Council directs staff to draft flag-display policy after discussion of flags, locations and criteria

City Attorney Dina Burke briefed the Snoqualmie City Council on July 14 about legal considerations for flying nongovernmental and commemorative flags on city-owned property and recommended a written policy defining an approved list rather than accepting ad hoc public requests. Burke said courts have found problems when governments allowed indiscriminate public-request flag programs and then refused particular flags.

The discussion matters because an explicit policy determines whether the city will allow public-initiated flag requests, which flags are permitted, where they may be displayed and how the city reduces the risk of viewpoint-discrimination claims.

Burke recommended that the city adopt an approved-list model and avoid accepting individual public requests without clear criteria. She noted that city decisions about which flags fly on government property constitute government speech and are therefore discretionary, but warned that a policy that permitted general public-request flags could create a First Amendment issue under recent court guidance if the city then refused a request. "If a local government chooses to fly certain flags at the request of the public, it should have clear policies regarding the flag selection process," Burke said.

Council discussion covered which specific flags to include (United States, Washington state, city flag, POW/MIA, military service flags, Pride, Juneteenth, tribal flags, sister-city flags and selected academic or high-school flags), and whether flags should be designated as outside (flagpole) versus inside (window) displays. Several councilors favored keeping the list narrow and having staff determine display location practicality rather than imposing inside/outside categories in policy. Council members expressed concerns about showing favoritism for professional sports and asked to limit sports flags to local high school representation if included.

Council directed staff to draft a policy based on an approved-list approach and return to the Finance & Administration committee and council for further review. Burke and staff will draft the list of candidate flags and suggested locations, including guidance that sovereign-entity flags (for example, federally or tribally recognized nations) be flown only with appropriate permission and cultural consultation. No final policy vote occurred at the meeting.